


Failure of Communication

by knowlee_raven



Series: Claudleth A-Z [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Post S Rank, Post Timeskip, along with misunderstandings, and not to "dance" around a subject especially when it creates a rift, claude and byleth are too self sacrificing for their own good, more fluff than anything really, slight angst but not really, they learn the importance of communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25430518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowlee_raven/pseuds/knowlee_raven
Summary: Claude's dream is a noble one and its one that both he and Byleth want to achieve.But when one party starts to feel neglected due their devotion to bringing that dream to life the two learn to effectively communicate with one another instead of just "dancing" around the subject.~~Claudeleth Week 2020: Day 3 - Dancing
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Claudleth A-Z [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760710
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25
Collections: Claudeleth Week 2020





	Failure of Communication

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Failure of Communication

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

Let it be known that Byleth loved her husband.

She loved everything about him: his looks, his attention to detail when it came to his schemes and plans, and the way he treated everyone equally among other things.

And the biggest trait she loved about him was the dream he had of creating a world where everyone, regardless of where they came from, would have an equal opportunity. It was one she wanted to help him achieve and would do all that she could to help.

Aside from standing beside him in the war, she also became queen of a United Fodlan. And though she knew that he truly believed and knew that she would make a good ruler, she also knew that it fit in beautifully with his plans. Same with their marriage that took place a few months ago.

But like with her coronation, she knew he married her because he truly loved her and made sure to find ways to show it in any way he could. To him, this wasn't a marriage of convenience, it was one of love.

So then, why did she feel like maybe she wasn't enough?

* * *

Byleth sipped at her tea trying to analyze what it was she was feeling.

It was a strange emotion she was experiencing and while she knew what emotions were and how it felt to have them, she had to admit she was a bit confused by this one.

It felt akin to disappointment and at first she wasn't sure at what, but after analyzing it further, she found it was because she felt Claude wasn't giving her as much attention as he was his dreams.

Immediately she felt guilty. This was his dream to unite the two countries and make better for everyone. Who was she to want to take his attention from that? It wasn't like he was deliberately doing it either.

At first she tried to push down her dejectedness and keep him from knowing about it. And for a while she thought she was succeeding. But as observant as Claude was, especially in regards to her, he began to see through the cracks.

He would notice that she would go quiet during their discussions about policies and ideas they were trying to implement to improve relations with everyone. While normally she was quiet by nature, as she preferred to listen more than speak just to cover the silence, Claude knew her well enough to tell when something was wrong.

He tried to get her to explain what she was hiding, but she kept changing the subject or forcing his attention back onto what they were talking about. While he did keep trying to pry it out of her, to his credit, he didn't push too hard. As curious and desperate to know secrets as Claude was, he also knew when to back down.

But as time went on, Byleth could tell that her continuing refusal to talk about it and his subsequent refusal to push the subject was causing a divide to slowly grow between them.

* * *

Shortly after Byleth spent a little more time ruminating over the predicament she had put herself in, Hanneman had arrived to give her the latest information about his Crest research. The man had teamed up with Linhardt to further his dedication to the topic and the two were determined to figure it out especially since one of her own deer was keen on trying anything to remove one of her own crests, if not both.

The two had been communicating for a while about what they had found and as they were winding down towards the end of the meeting, Hanneman decided it was that moment to speak about the proverbial wyvern in the room. “So, how are things going between you and His Highness? I haven't seen you two alone together much recently. Is... something going on?”

Byleth sipped some more of the tea before her to try and calm her nerves about what he was asking. It certainly didn't help that the tea in question happened to be her husband's favorite. “What do you mean?”

Hanneman placed his cup back down onto the saucer gently. “What I mean is, why are you two acting like you barely know each other? It used to be a regular sight to see you two laughing and, for lack of a better term, flirting with one another whenever you two were seen together. Now it just looks like you two are putting up appearances in order to appease everyone.”

She stayed silent. 

Apparently Claude wasn't the only one to see when something was wrong. Who else had noticed?

“Your Highness, while I understand it's not my place to pry into either you or Claude's personal lives, I can't help but feel as if something is wrong. I promise not to judge whatever it is that you tell me, or if you want, I can get you someone you'd rather talk to instead of me. Hilda, perhaps?”

Byleth shook her head. “No, that's not necessary.” She felt comforted by his words and wanted to tell him what was wrong. Maybe that's what she needed. An outside perspective to see if maybe she was wrong or maybe even right. A small part of her doubted it however. But she did know that his naturally analytical mind might help and since he wasn't Claude, she wouldn't have to worry about hurting his feelings by what it was she was going to say.

She took in a slow breath. Might as well get it over with. “It's just that, I don't know, I feel as if I'm being left behind somehow. Like, Claude tends to be focusing more on his dreams more than me, which isn't a bad thing by no means, his dreams are important and I want to see and help him succeed in them, but I just...”

“I just feel like he's forgotten about me sometimes.” Her eyes fell to look at her wringing hands. “I mean, it's been a long time since we've last time to just ourselves. I know that's bound to happen with both of us being rulers of two countries and that sacrifices need to be made, so I'm trying not to make it a problem since I knew that this was inevitable. I guess I haven't been doing that very well since people have apparently starting noticing it.”

Hanneman nodded, taking in the new information and mulling it in his head for a few moments. “That's normal to feel a little neglected if you feel not enough attention has been put on you. I'm sure he probably feels just as frustrated, as I have seen when he tries to make time for you, but with how busy things have been since the war's end and your marriage, time has been hard to come by. Has His Highness noticed your distance?”

“Yes.” She confirmed. “He has noticed and has even tried to get me to tell him what's wrong, but he hasn't been pushing it too much. I just feel guilty even feeling this way and I don't want him to think that I think his dreams aren't important.”

“I see. I understand your hesitation, but you should still talk to him.”

“I don't want to bother him with this. He has other things he needs to focus on before me.” She didn't want to pull Claude away from his work.

Hanneman shook his head before responding. “With all due respect, Your Highness, he's your husband. He's supposed to care about those things. If he didn't, then he wouldn't be a very good one. And, speaking from experience, you need to talk to him. For while his dreams are noble and should be pursued, he should not forget the one who is helping him to achieve them.”

He continued on. “And, from what you've told me, he is doing just that, which is good, but you need to communicate with him otherwise he won't get the full picture of what is going on. To dance around the subject instead of being open with him will only put a rift between you. Which from I've seen, and I'm sure others have as well, that has started to happen.”

He frowned. “I wish the ladies I had seen over my time in this world would've told me their feelings when I neglected them unintentionally with my research. It wasn't until I received a letter from them telling me it was over that I finally realized what was going on. If they would've communicated with me and perhaps maybe if I pushed a little harder, I would be married to one of them by now.”

Byleth took his words in. What he was saying did make sense. She was still afraid of having Claude be mad at her, but at the same time, she also knew that he wouldn't think of it that way. He loved her and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, especially with all the crap she had been through in the past. And she wanted the same for him.

She smiled. Perhaps it was time to have a talk with Claude and clear the air, but first… “What about Manuela?”

Byleth laughed as he blanched. “Me? Being with _that_ woman?! Preposterous!”

She laughed a bit harder as he continued to protest, denying that he held any affection for the white mage. She knew he was fibbing a bit, based on the furious blush that had spread across his face.

Eventually she found her voice and thanked him for his time. “Thank you for your advice, Professor Hanneman. I think I need to put it into play now and talk to Claude. I don't need to let it keep going on and let it get worse.”

Hanneman smiled, glad to see that his advice was taken to heart. “I hope it turns out well for you. Both of you deserve happiness after everything you all have done for Fodlan.”

Gathering his documents that he brought to show her their progress, he stands up about to head to the door before stopping. “Do you want me to send him here to see you, by chance?”

Byleth nodded, sipping some more of her tea. “If you wouldn't mind. I would appreciate it.”

“It's not a problem at all, Your Highness. Now if you'll excuse me.” He bowed, and turned to leave the room to start his hunt for the man in question.

* * *

To say he was nervous was an understatement. Although he was glad that his wife wanted to speak with him, he was always thrilled to talk to her and it made his day every time, he knew that recently they were in a rut of some kind and he didn't know what to do.

Well, he did know one thing he could do, which was force her to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her, but he didn't want to push it. It wasn't his right to force her to tell him. Even though they were married to each other, she was still her own person and she deserved to still keep some things to herself.

But he couldn't deny that it didn't hurt, because it did. He trusted her with everything, down to his heritage, his true name and the fact that he was a member of a royal family in an entirely different country, so why couldn't she trust him with whatever it was that was bothering her?

Still though, he didn't push, because although he had revealed all that to her, it still took him years to do that. So he definitely had no say so in how she decided when she was ready. All he could do was wait for her to make that decision for herself.

So when Hanneman found him in the halls and told him Byleth wanted to speak with him, he was hoping that she finally had decided. And even though he hoped this, he was still terrified. Mainly because he had no idea what it was that she had been bearing on her mind this whole time.

Claude really hoped it wasn't anything too serious because he was willing to do whatever it took to help her with her problems, no matter what it may be. And if it were something he couldn't help with? Well, he didn't know what to at that point.

Soon, Claude reached the door in question that led to the room his wife was still in. His took a deep breath to settle his nerves before grabbing the door handle to turn. It was now or never.

Upon entering the room, he saw her standing next to the fireplace, the flames outlining her figure aglow in red. It was a beautiful sight to see and he would've been content to keep staring if it wasn't for the fact that she needed to speak to him about something important.

A tentative smile broke out on his face as he closed the door behind him. The sound caught her attention and caused her to turn to face him. His heart beat hard when he saw her face. The fire made her face glow even more than usual. “Hey Teach! Professor Hannaeman said you wanted to speak to me. Do you miss me that much?”

His flirting brought a smile to her face which made his smile grow a bit wider. “Yes, I did. Though there may be times you annoy me greatly, I still miss you when you're not here.”

Her smile held for a few more moments before falling. Claude's heart fell with it.

He reached out to gently grab her hands, pulling her a bit closer. “By, what's wrong? Are you alright?”

She didn't answer him at first, making his nerves grow even more. He placed a hand under her chin and brought her gaze up to look at him. Her eyes looked just as nervous as he felt. “By?”

Byleth breathed out slowly, her hand catching his hand that was on chin and bringing it back down. “Not really...”

Claude held his breath. As much as he wanted her to talk, he didn't want to push her too hard. Although Hanneman said he should get her to tell him what was going on if she backed down, it still went against his nature. 

Finally after a few more painstaking moments, she spoke. “It's nothing bad, its just that… I've felt like for the past few months since after we got back from our honeymoon and after we started working fully on uniting our two countries that we haven't had a lot of time to spend together. And because of that, it's made me feel like I wasn't as important as achieving your dream is.”

His heart clenched at the thought that she felt that way. Because it was far from what he actually felt about her. Before he could tell her this, she quickly added another statement to her confession which made him even more determined to make her realize that she was just, if not _more_ important than that. “I didn't want to bring it up though and kept trying to ignore the feeling. Because I shouldn't feel like that. Your dreams are important and I don't want to lessen that in any way.”

He stopped her before she went any further. “Byleth, listen to me. You _are_ important to me. Even more important than some pipe dream I want to achieve. Yes, I do want to want to make it happen, but like I've said before, I want do it with you by my side. I can't have it any other way.”

Claude drew her close, wrapping his arms around her. He felt relief when she returned the gesture. “I'm sorry I made you feel that way. It wasn't my intention. I guess I just got so caught up in finally having a chance to bring my dream to life that I got carried away. I'm sorry that happened. I shouldn't have made you feel that way, because that's no where near what I feel for you. I love you more than anything. Even more than a dream.”

Her hands gripped his robe tighter at his words. He could only hope they were enough to comfort her. He knew though, that in order to show that he meant them, he would have to follow up. Which he was fully willing and wanting to do.

“I'm sorry that I didn't tell you how I was feeling before. I just didn't want you to think I wasn't supporting you.” 

He smiled and kissed her temple. “Never would've thought that of you, my friend. After everything you've done for me over the years, how could I ever think that of you?”

Claude's heart jumped when he saw the tell tale sign of a smile on her face as they held tighter to each other. They stayed in this embrace for a few more moments before he decided to make good on his words. “Tell you what, I'm going to cancel the rest of our meetings for today and we're going out!”

The surprised look on her face looked adorable on her and he made a vow to try and make that come out more often. “Are you sure? Some of them are important.”

He placed a finger on her mouth to quiet her before removing it and kissing her soundly. “Not as important as you.”

Claude felt her smile against his lips as she returned his previous action wholeheartedly with a kiss of her own.

* * *

Then for the first time in a long time, Claude and Byleth went on a much needed outing. For although their kingdoms needed them, they also needed each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I mean, no one said the topic had to include _actual_ dancing.
> 
> I hope you guys like this little story. Fun fact is that this was one of the first Claudeleth stories I thought of, but didn't write at the time. Then I saw this event coming up and decided, 'what the heck?'. And here we are!
> 
> Also, quick note, I'm hoping not to have tomorrow's be late. Unfortunately I didn't get to work on it as early as I wanted to, but I am working on the last half of it at the moment, so here's hoping it can get done. I'm excited to get that one out to you guys and see what you think of it. :)
> 
> Until next time~!


End file.
